A man who crashed a vehicle into the lobby of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco was shot dead by officers on Monday afternoon, according to police.
San Francisco Police warned people to avoid the area of Laguna Street and Geary Boulevard, where the consulate is located, “due to ongoing police activity.”
Multiple police officers and fire trucks were on the scene. The incident was reported to police at around 3:09 p.m., police said.
Kathyrn Winters, a spokesperson from the San Francisco Police Department, said officers arrived to find the vehicle lodged inside the lobby of the Chinese consulate’s visa office.
“When officers arrived here on scene they found the vehicle had come to rest inside the lobby of the Chinese consulate,” Ms. Winters told reporters on the scene. “Officers entered, made contact with the suspect, and an officer-involved shooting occurred.”
Efforts to save the suspect’s life were made by both police officers and paramedics summoned from the San Francisco Fire Department, according to police. However, the suspect was later pronounced deceased at a local hospital.
As this investigation unfolds, the San Francisco Police Department is working closely with investigators from the U.S. State Department due to the unusual location of the incident, inside the Chinese consulate.
This has limited how much police are sharing with the public at this time, said Ms. Winters, who urged witnesses and individuals in possession of relevant video footage to cooperate with investigators.
“We don’t have any information about this suspect at this time,” Ms. Winters said. “This is a unique investigation because it did happen inside the lobby of the Chinese consulate, so there’s a number of agencies and jurisdictions that are involved. So this is far different than our normal officer-involved shooting, which really does unfortunately impact the amount of information we can give to you at this time.”
The exact nature of the investigation, including which agency will lead it, remains uncertain. Multiple entities, including the Internal Affairs Division, the investigative services detail, the Independent Investigation Bureau of the District Attorney’s office, and the Department of Police Accountability, are involved, though the full scope of their involvement has yet to be determined, according to Ms. Winters.
Police have been tight-lipped regarding the suspect’s intentions and whether the crash was deliberate.
“The investigation is still ongoing. There’s very little information that we can divulge at this time. I wish I could give you more at this time,” said Ms. Winters. “But like I said earlier, this is a very complex investigation.”
Questions about whether the suspect had additional weapons in the vehicle or shouted specific statements at the scene remained unanswered.
The exact number of individuals present inside the visa office of the consulate at the time of the collision is also uncertain.
While the police were prompt in their response, they refrained from providing specific details about the response time, stating, “I can’t get into the specifics right now.”
Authorities have promised to hold a town hall meeting within ten days of the incident, where more information may be made available to the public as the investigation progresses.
